The conference features discussions on diplomacy, food security and unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones. Each panel or presentation highlights local and global trends related to these pressing issues.

The morning keynote features Ambassador Gary Grappo, former Head of Mission for the Office of the Quartet Representative Tony Blair, in Jerusalem.

A food-security panel will provide local insights on the issue from Gabriela Othon Lothrop, market director for East End Market, a neighborhood market and food hub in the Audubon Park Garden District of Orlando; national insights from Ricardo Salvador, director, Food and Environment Program, Union of Concerned Scientists; and global insights from Jonathan Foley, director, Institute on the Environment, º£½ÇÖ±²¥ of Minnesota.

The panel on unmanned aerial vehicles will be moderated by John C. Bersia, special assistant to the president for Global Perspectives at UCF, and includes local perspectives on the issue from Lt. Chris Francisco, Emergency Management/Homeland Security Section, High Risk Incident Command Division, Orange County Sheriff’s Office; and national and global insights from Bernard Finel, associate professor of National Security Strategy, National War College.

The luncheon keynote will feature Tamara Wittes, senior fellow and director, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, The Brookings Institution.

UCF students, faculty and staff, and Central Florida community members are invited to attend but advance registration is required. Registration is provided at no cost, thanks to the event’s sponsors. To register, or for more information, email global@ucf.edu.

In addition to Global Perspectives, sponsors and partners of the event include the UCF Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd Program for Strategic Research and Studies, The India Center at UCF, UCF Diplomacy Studies, UCF Middle Eastern Studies Program, UCF China-Taiwan Cross-Strait Program, UCF Kurdish Political Studies Initiative, UCF Global Peace and Security Studies Program, UCF Al Ghazali Islamic Studies Program, UCF Human Trafficking Awareness Program, UCF Isle of Man Small Countries Program, Chastang Charitable Foundation, The India Group, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, UCF Political Science Department, UCF International Services Center, UCF LIFE and the Global Connections Foundation.

Associate Professor Bernard Finel of the National War College told a º£½ÇÖ±²¥ audience Tuesday that the U.S. has reached a stalemate.

“We are no closer to ‘victory’ after ten years,� he said. “Successes are matched by reversals. As one country gets better, another gets worse.�

Finel’s presentation, which was organized by UCF’s Global Perspectives Office, drew more than 150 students, faculty and members of the community. The forum was part of the office’s 2010-2011 programming theme “Global Peace and Security.�

Finel, an adjunct fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank American Security Project, authors ASP’s annual report, “Are We Winning? Measuring Progress in the Struggle Against al-Qaeda and Associated Movements.�

ASP’s annual report aims to quantify America’s progress in the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism, or the Long War. Based on 10 categories, which include terrorist incidents, al-Qaeda leadership and state sponsorship of terrorism, the report provides measurable results to gauge U.S. progress.

Finel discussed the latest report’s findings and broader implications during his presentation at UCF. The bottom line, he said, is that the U.S. is at a deadlock.

Finel said incidents of Islamist terrorism have increased, and domestic attitudes have become more radicalized with the recent anti-mosque movement at Ground Zero. Though al-Qaeda’s popularity seemed to wane in the last few years, affiliated movements are now thriving in Yemen and Somalia, he said.

What is worse, he added, is that Muslim attitudes about the U.S. are as poor as ever. Any “Obama effect� that might have improved the U.S. image abroad has been dampened by the continued support of Israel or military presence in Afghanistan.

It is difficult to “drain the swamp� of support for terrorism if the U.S. cannot first win hearts and minds, Finel said.

Citing the tremendous human and financial costs of the Long War, Finel asked if the audience was satisfied with the war’s progress, productivity and cost.

He argued that the U.S. is engaged in a long war, but fighting as if it were a short battle. Managing the terrorist threat until the next generation can displace current Islamist extremism is where the U.S. stands to find the light at the end of the tunnel.

In addition to the UCF Global Perspectives Office, sponsors included the Sibille H. Pritchard Global Peace Fellowship program, Lawrence J. Chastang and the Chastang Foundation, LarsonAllen LLP, the UCF Global Peace and Security Studies Program, the UCF Diplomacy Program, the UCF Political Science Department, the UCF Middle Eastern Studies Program, the UCF Terrorism Studies Program, the UCF International Services Center, UCF LIFE and the Global Connections Foundation.

Finel’s presentation, “Are We Winning? Measuring Progress in the Struggle Against Terrorism,� will begin at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 18, in the Key West Ballroom of the Student Union. The event is free and open to the public.

Finel is an associate professor of national security strategy at the U.S. National War College and an adjunct fellow at the American Security Project, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C.

He is the lead author of the ASP’s annual report, “Are We Winning? Measuring Progress in the Struggle against Violent Jihadism.� Finel previously served as a senior fellow at the ASP, where he focused on counter-terrorism and defense policy.

Finel was a professor of military strategy and operations at the U.S. National War College from 2004 to 2006. From 1994 to 2004, he held various positions at Georgetown º£½ÇÖ±²¥, most notably executive director of the security studies program and Center for Peace and Security Studies.

Sponsors of Finel’s presentation include the UCF Global Perspectives Office, The Sibille H. Pritchard Global Peace Fellowship program, Lawrence J. Chastang and the Chastang Foundation, LarsonAllen LLP, the UCF Global Peace and Security Studies Program, the UCF Diplomacy Program, the UCF Political Science Department, the UCF Middle Eastern Studies Program, the UCF Terrorism Studies Program, the UCF International Services Center, UCF LIFE and the Global Connections Foundation.

To learn more about the Global Perspectives Office, visit or follow the office on Twitter at .